Faculty manager proud to serve both the students and faculty

Catharina Buckle, the Manager of the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, recently received a Long Service Award in recognition of her 35 years of dedicated service at CPUT.

She is proud to serve both the students and faculty, cherishing the opportunity to work alongside “brilliant and kind colleagues”.

Buckle was raised on a farm on the West Coast with four siblings. They were in a hostel from Grade 1 because the farm was too far from the school to fetch them every day. “[I] grew up in a small community with fond memories of sport events, dances, church fairs.” Buckle studied at Stellenbosch University to become a language teacher but changed her mind and started working at one of the heritage institutions, Cape Technikon, in January 1991. She has been happily married for 31 years and has a daughter who is a physiotherapist and a son studying BCom Mathematical Sciences at Stellenbosch University.

Reflecting on her very first day and how different the workplace is today, she says: “I was very nervous on my first day, but luckily there were several new employees who started on that day, which helped. The workplace was totally different, might be unrecognisable for many young people. We used fax machines; computers were something new to get used to, and most things were paper based.”

Buckle came to the Cape Technikon when she saw it as an opportunity to work in the beautiful Mother City. “The working environment was healthy, and the colleagues were great; we remained friends although most of the colleagues are not even in Cape Town anymore.”

While working at Cape Technikon on the current District Six Campus, she had to travel every morning from the Stellenberg area, which wasn't ideal. However, in 2006, Buckle moved to the Bellville Campus, much closer to home, “a huge bonus”. She has been in student administration for the biggest part of her career, from 1991 to 2006. From 2006 to 2014, she worked in the Registrar's Division, and then returned to student administration.

Buckle described the late Prof Thandi Matsha-Erasmus, a distinguished former staff member of CPUT and the former Vice-Chancellor of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, as the most interesting person she met and worked with during her career.

“She changed the way I looked at leaders; she was a strong, funny, firm, passionate, kind leader.”

She notes: “I am proud to serve the students and faculty and to work with brilliant, kind colleagues. The funniest memory I cannot reveal.” Instead of focusing on the challenge, she tries to find a solution. However, the unrest was always difficult for her, as well as COVID, because “we had to change the way we do things, but we also learnt a lot from it”. She always tries her best to balance her career and family time. “I am always trying to give my best and be present, although this proved to be difficult at times, wherever I am, whether at home or at work.”

Her biggest secret to staying happy and motivated in the same job for so long has been her connection with students and colleagues. She advised new staff members to appreciate the opportunity and to give their best. Buckle has only one word to describe the support from her colleagues: “ incredible”.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: BoyceAp@cput.ac.za